Alan Chartock: Medical marijuana, end of life issues and progressive legislating in New York

Friday, March 21, 2014

It takes New York state government a long time before it does the right thing.

How come it took so long to even consider a sensible medical marijuana bill that would allow people in great pain and/or the last stages of life to use what is basically a medicinal aid to alleviate their suffering?

We know it works. Other states allow it but New York government is old and moribund and filled with people who just say ‘No’ to everything without thinking things through. We do have some progressive thinkers who are trying to do the right thing, like the chairman of the New York Assembly Health Committee, Richard Gottfried. Once the youngest member of the Legislature, Gottfried, like Moses, risks being denied entry into the promised land of medical marijuana reform.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there. There is another extension of the relief of suffering concept that is even more demanding — the idea that when someone wants to die with dignity on their own terms, they should be allowed to do so with the assistance of a physician.

We all recognize that the end, for some, is filled with pain and the body’s organs are shutting down. Some people are anxious to pass on. Life for them is just so much pain and misery. They want to go. Our old line, conservative forces just are not allowing it to happen.

Years ago, I talked to a doctor who is himself, long gone. He frankly admitted that there were doctors who had been helping suffering patients to depart for years. The problem, of course, is that in assisting, these heroes put themselves at tremendous risk with the law.

We all know that there are lots of ways to commit suicide. Books like “Final Exit” lay it all out. But our physicians, who are all about alleviation of pain, are not allowed to do what they could do best.

Obviously, we can put rules in place to protect those who want to end their lives. You can have more than one doctor signing off. You can have mental health professionals declare that the person seeking ultimate relief knows what he or she is doing. You can refer to end of life signed orders from the patient. You can have the children signing off. And speaking of the children, you might even have a public advocate of some sort ensuring that there is no self-serving motive on the part of any heirs to the estate of the deceased.

Other states like Oregon have passed this legislation and it seems to be working quite well. Frankly, Oregon is a better state than New York. They have more progressive thinkers. They don’t have the same old, same old class of professional politicians who keep on doing it the old way, afraid of religious institutions that may get in the way.

One of the best reasons for sensibly implementing term limits in New York is that we might finally do away with the old pols club. Then, our legislators may stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about what is good for the people, including those who are suffering and in pain.

Come on now, let’s consider who these politicians are. Many of them are just like you and me. They know what’s right. In their heart of hearts and mind of minds, they know what they would want for themselves or their parents. But they also understand that there are political consequences associated with doing the right thing.

That, of course, is what is wrong with our politics. We are populated with self-serving, self-protecting politicians who think of themselves first and the rest of us second. It is as if they were stuck in cement — just one more reason most of us would vote for term limits.

It’s time to move on, allowing doctors to help the suffering.

Alan Chartock is a political commentator, president and CEO of public radio station WAMC.